Bonding, Bands, and Birthday Dinners

Wow, what a wild and wonderful weekend it was.

Tommy and I were on our own Thursday, so we spent the day bonding. We lounged around the house in our pjs, played outside for a while, and laughed laughed laughed! He's such a clown, I love it. I am happy to report he is no longer sick, and has gotten his full appetite back. I am so relieved.

It was a hot and humid day here in New Jersey, so during Tommy's afternoon nap I decided to set up his new sprinkler pool. The set up took me about 35 minutes (the pool was a little heavy and I couldn't seem to hook the hose up correctly). Once Tommy was up from his nap it took me another 20 minutes to lather him up with sun block lotion, get on the special swim diaper, and get his bathing suit on. Finally after the hour or so set up we were outside, the little pool was all filled up and ready to go and Tommy happily stepped in to play. At that exact moment, the sun - which had been shining since earlier that morning - slipped behind some clouds, and the chilly water coming out of the hose attachment became less inviting than it had a few moments earlier. Never-the-less, we spent a nice 5 or 10 minutes in the little sprinkler pool with the sun peaking out once or twice. The time it took setting up and cleaning up afterwards, was totally worth it. Tommy loved the little pool, and I enjoyed being a part of something that made him so happy.

Friday night my MIL stopped over to babysit for us so that we could see my favorite band in concert. 38 Special, Styx, and REO Speedwagon were together at the Borgata, and I was beside myself with excitement all week. I had missed the last show when Styx was here in 2008 due to mandatory bedrest just before giving birth to Tommy in April. I know I was hormonal last year, but I was truly upset at having missed the concert...so Tony and I immediately purchased our tickets for the "Can't Stop Rockin'" tour the morning they went on sale. We arrived early to the show and met up with a friend for a drink (I had the strongest Mojito EVER at the Gypsy Bar...yikes!), then proceeded to the show. 38 Special were pretty good. It was my first time seeing them. They had a lot of energy, and you could tell they were enjoying themselves. Next came Styx. I had worked my way up to the "second row" (standing room only, but you get the gist) by the time they came on. I proceeded to have the time of my life. I sang as loudly as I could, danced, and even caught a large mesh Styx logo bag which was thrown out into the crowd (and yes, I already used it, today in fact, when I stopped over to pick up groceries - Go Green!). Too quickly their part of the show was over, and to my surprise (and great luck), the man standing in front of me left and I moved up to the front row just before REO Speedwagon came on. REO was wonderful as well. Dave Amato's microphone was in front of where I was standing, and he was kind enough to throw me some smiles, and a few guitar picks (FUN! Thanks Dave!!). During the last song of the night both Styx and REO performed "Can't Stop Rockin'" together. It's a great song, and the perfect ending to an amazing night. I truly do not think I could have had a better night...well no I'm lying...it would have been even cooler to meet them...perhaps some day. Anyway, I Loved It, and I highly recommend getting out to see them during this tour (ahem...this means you Kristy!!) If I can find a way to see them again during this tour, believe me, I will! It was fantastic! I will post a few of the pics I took...the rest are on my facebook page.

Styx

REO Speedwagon

Styx and REO together...check out the latest video on Styxworld.com

Most of Saturday we spent laying around and recovering from the previous late night (no such thing as late nights anymore with a 14 mo old in the house! haha). Thankfully we were able to get ourselves cleaned up in time to enjoy a delicious birthday dinner in honor of one of my closest friend's 40th birthday. We had a great time celebrating with her and the other guests. Happy Birthday Tana - I still don't believe you're 40 years young...you don't look a day over 25!!

Today we relaxed and spent some time doing the boring yet necessary household stuff we'd neglected the rest of the weekend. We had such a great weekend, truly one of the most fun we've had in a while. Tony and I really needed the adult time out and about, though it was also very nice spending some time with our Tommy.

You can see just how tired I look in this pic (I also think I look like I'm twelve, haha). Tired, but so so happy - and how cute is my Tommy??!! Life is good!